It was in 2005 when the then Minister for Public Works, Magdelena Álvarez, announced that the A-7 coastal autovía would open in 2008. We could go back 20 years, if we wanted to retrace the first steps of the autovía, but let’s keep things within recent memory.

Three years on, and well into the General Elections campaign, she announced in Motril that it would be finished, excluding the Almuñécar/Salobreña stretch, by the end of 2009. It was not to be, obviously. That part of the autovía, she announced, would be completed in 2010.

However, just a couple of months later, the then First Minister of the Andaluz regional government, Manuel Chávez, let slip that work could extend over into 2011, should there be unexpected hold ups… The standing official completion forecast is the middle to end of 2011.

Now, it looks like the only part that will be finished by 2011 is the Lobres/Gorgoracha section, which is hardly a consolation, because it doesn’t connect to anything and will be completely useless until the Almuñécar/Salobreña and Gorgoracha/Puntalón reach it.

Yet, there is more to this than meets the eye, as the 2010 budget for work on the A-7 project seemingly indicates. The two parts under construction that are most needed; i.e., that bypass Torrenueva and Castel de Ferro, are precisely the two that are grossly under funded by comparison with the 2009 budget. The A-7 budget for for 2009 was 179m euros, whereas the 2010 one is less than half that amount: 80m euros. The two most important sections have individual budgets of only 40,000 and 31,000 euros. However – and this is the cruncher – the 2012 budget is enormous, which shows, claims the PP, that the government will do little during these two years, only to accelerate work on the eve of the next General Elections.

The Government, on the other hand, points out that thanks to the newly adopted ‘German Method’ (paying the construction companies upon completion) there is no need for large sums to be set aside for 2010.

Finally, the business association for the Costa Tropical is demanding that work be carried out on the N-340 main road to ease traffic problems until the autovía is in service.

(News: Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)